Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) sent a letter yesterday to EPA Inspector General Arthur Elkins Jr., asking him to preserve all records of communications connected to an emergency order issued late last year by EPA Region 6 Administrator Al Amendariz.

The order accused Range Resources Corp. of contaminating water wells near Fort Worth. Armendariz bypassed state officials to issue the order and accused them of not acting to help homeowners victimized by drilling (Greenwire, Feb. 11).

EPA officials have defended Armendariz's handling of the situation. But industry officials have criticized him, saying his communications with activists and EPA headquarters officials show he was more interested in publicity than in finding proof that violations existed. Range Resources has said there is little or no proof that the gas that contaminated the water wells came from its drilling operations.

Inhofe is the ranking Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, an ally of the oil and gas industry and a staunch defender of a drilling practice called "hydraulic fracturing." Also, Oklahoma is part of EPA's Region 6, giving Armendariz oversight of issues in Inhofe's territory.

Armendariz issued the order Dec. 7. Records obtained by E&E Daily show that he quickly announced the order to an environmental activist and another ally.

"We're about to make a lot of news," Armendariz wrote in an e-mail. "Time to Tivo Channel 8."

A story about EPA's action, quoting Armendariz, had appeared on the website of a local television station about a minute before an aide notified a top state regulator on Armendariz's behalf, the records show. That regulator, then-Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Victor Carrillo (R), replied that his agency was still investigating and called the federal action "premature."

EPA officials have stressed that Armendariz was in frequent contact with state officials in the weeks before the emergency order was issued and dispute the idea that Armendariz was chasing publicity at the expense of proper procedures. An agency spokeswoman said EPA had discussed the emergency order with the state and gas company "for some time" before the order was issued.

"State agencies and the gas production company knew about the order before we announced it publicly," the spokeswoman said last week. "As we've done in the past, EPA is committed to open communication with all affected parties, including industry, environmental and conservation groups, and local, state and federal elected officials about significant agency actions."

The spokeswoman said Armendariz's "stunning" comment reflected surprise at the Railroad Commission's reluctance, "given that there were at least two families whose homes were in immediate danger of explosion and who had no safe household water from the aquifer."

EPA released the text of a Dec. 3 e-mail from Armendariz to Carrillo that went over the situation and discussed EPA's legal authority to issue an order like the one it did four days later. Armendariz also stressed that his agency was open to sharing information

"We will continue this policy and ensure that any and all data that we collect in the future that we can share is distributed," Armendariz wrote.

Armendariz's order charged that Range's drilling in the Barnett Shale contaminated at least two water wells with methane and benzene. The order gave Range 48 hours to provide clean drinking water to affected residents and begin taking steps to resolve the problem.

The order was a slap at regulators at the Texas Railroad Commission, whom he accused of not doing enough to help the people living near the drilling operations in the Fort Worth area. The allegations inflamed an ongoing fight between Armendariz and Texas officials, including Gov. Rick Perry (R), about whether the state has done enough to regulate air pollution that has grown into a fight over states' rights.

Armendariz's move also turned up the heat on a long-simmering debate about whether states adequately protect their residents against the dangers of drilling.

The company and the Texas regulators have countered that their investigations, ongoing since last August, have failed to show any link between the drilling and water contamination. Range said the well water in the area has long contained methane. Texas officials accused EPA of grandstanding and making "false claims" about its actions.

EPA's order mentions "hydraulic fracturing" but does not charge that fracturing fluid contaminated the wells. Instead, it is alleging that methane contaminated the wells.

The industry has long maintained that state regulators have done a good job of regulating fracturing, noting that after hundreds of thousands of fracturing jobs over six decades, state regulators have never documented groundwater contamination from fracturing fluid.

Environmentalists have pointed to the Texas case as an example of the failure of state regulation. Environmentalists, joined by some congressional Democrats, have pushed to reverse fracturing's exemption from EPA regulation. Inhofe has opposed such efforts.